


Sūtsu

by Marie9



Category: Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon | Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, Magic Kaito, 名探偵コナン | Detective Conan | Case Closed
Genre: Gen, Get the guy In the suit!, Kaitou Kid is confused, Monocle vs Mask, Nakamori's mouth tinting the air blue, No the OTHER guy in the suit!, Saguru is wondering how much asprin he'll need after this, Shinichi doesn't have enough tranquilizer darts for this, Tuxedo Mask is also confused, midnight shenanigans
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-31
Updated: 2018-10-24
Packaged: 2019-07-05 04:30:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,897
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15856248
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Marie9/pseuds/Marie9
Summary: Kaitou Kid finds himself suddenly and unexpectedly having competition with a fellow kaitou who also appears to be after jewels specifically, and Kuroba Kaito decides to get to the bottom of it in a hurry. And of course a certain half-Brit meitantei and shrunken meitantei both have to poke their noses into things during the heist, too...





	1. I Don't Wear Black

**Author's Note:**

> HAD to do this someday, shoutout to my first anime/manga fandom ever (the horrible DIC dub even!) crossed over with one of my most beloved anime/manga fandoms, in a way that hopefully makes sense and is enjoyable. Hope everyone enjoys this silly little three shot :D!

"That's a...very strange and sudden wardrobe change for you, young master." Konsuke Jii half shoved the early edition of the day's paper at Kuroba Kaito with a deep frown, a drying coffee ring slowly staining the crime section of the paper as the two talked at the currently closed Blue Parrot, the early morning light just beginning to filter through the windows of the billiards parlor. "I  _also_  didn't realize you'd decided to start working alone all of a sudden. A little warning that you wanted to try a solo heist would have been nice, hmm? Having to find out about this via the newspaper  _rather_ upset me."

Kaito quirked an eyebrow in puzzlement as he took the paper from the older man. "What the heck are you talking about, Jii-chan?" He scanned the paper quickly, trying to find what his cohort in crime was confronting him about. "I haven't even  _planned_  or pulled a heist since the one we pulled two-" He interrupted himself mid-sentence as he took in the headline, eyes widening with disbelief.

_**A NEW LOOK FOR KAITOU KID? PHANTOM THIEF FILCHES THE CROW'S EYE FROM THE BEIKA HISTORY MUSEUM IN DARING MOONLIGHT HEIST!** _

**KID Task Force completely baffled at sudden change in outfit and M.O.- What could it mean?**

**_Look out for your valuable gems, Tokyo! International Criminal 1412 has changed his signature look- and also changed his habit of notifying the police._ **

The magician-thief glanced down from the article and studied the pictures that the paper had placed across a two page spread. A guy that looked roughly around his age was depicted ducking into the closed down at the time museum through a carefully cut window- and the intruder was dressed in a classic black tuxedo and black top hat, flashy red and black cape with a white shirt and a red rose sticking out of the suit's lapel. The other man was also using a white masquerade mask to somewhat cover his face, and Kaito gave Jii an annoyed glare after he finished studying the photos. " _Really_ , Jii-chan? This guy is probably a good three or four inches taller than me based on eyeballing him going through that window, looks older though granted that can be hard to tell sometimes, and most importantly is  _in black_." He couldn't help but grin broadly and add "Points to the guy for style, though."

"Well your task force and the rest of the police- not to mention the public- sure seem to assume it's you trying something new." Jii blinked and tilted his head. "Wait...that  _wasn't_  you trying something new? I assumed it was a new persona that you were trying out without telling me, though why you wanted to retire Kid so abruptly had me wondering."

Kaito rolled his eyes in annoyment, shaking his head before he spoke though his tone was patient. "What did I _just_  get done saying?" He waved the paper around before jabbing at it, pointing to the color picture of the filched diamond that had been provided. "Besides, check out these pictures of the Crow's Eye- nothing that looks like there might be another gem in there. It's just a very big and very nice, but  _also_  very ordinary diamond. No special lighting tricks or different colors in it or anything, the kind of stuff we usually look for in our Pandora targets."

"Well, I...err, assumed, based on how he was dressed and his target- I thought perhaps you were trying to throw the task force off the scent or something like that, actually. I'm certain the police made similar assumptions." Jii attempted to sound conciliatory. "If that  _wasn't_   you, however, and it doesn't sound like it was...you appear to have some competition now, hmm?" The older man was very worried, though he tried to not let it show in his tone - who  _was_  this other masked man, exactly, and did he pose any danger to Kaito? Why had he suddenly shown up in Tokyo, and what goals did he have aside from the obvious one of filching valuable jewels?

"Tch." Kaito smirked and shrugged as he sipped on a cup of coffee. "I suppose we'll have to try and track this other guy down and have a little chat about trying to steal my loot-  _and_  my look." He closely studied the other thief and snickered a bit. "Oh  _man_ , I bet Hakuba's going  _absolutely_   _nuts_  about this. I may have to try and see what I can get out of him during class today- knowing him, he's already doing research and probably found something." Grudgingly and only ever to himself, Kaito had to admit that the half-Brit was a regular bloodhound when he wanted to be,  _and_  damned good at it-which, unfortunately for his white-clad alter ego, was most of the time.

Jii sighed. "Are you  _really_  certain you should bring it up, particularly with Hakuba Saguru? I mean, it may look suspicious, especially because you're mentioned that he seems to be fairly confident that you're Kaitou Kid." There'd been more than one conversation in the past between the pair about Kaito switching classes to help protect his identity, but he steadfastly refused.

Kaito waved a hand dismissively. "Nah, I bet it'll be the talk of school today, and Hakuba will join right in. If he thinks that  _is_  me, all the deviations from what I normally do are probably throwing him for one  _hell_  of a loop."

* * *

At school later that morning, Kaito grinned internally as he realized as soon as Hakuba walked into their classroom that he'd 100% called it.  _Hah! Looks like he hasn't slept all night, and check out that pile of papers and file folders under his arm!_ The half-Brit gave Kaito a sleepy and sour, if puzzled look before going over to his desk and almost slumping into it, highly unusual for the almost always perfectly put together meitantei. Saguru then produced a large thermos of tea and poured it into a porcelain cup that he'd been carrying safely somehow in one of his pockets, the blond almost sucking the beverage down and quickly refilling the cup. "Oy! Hakuba, you alright over there?"

Saguru gave the other a boy a glare that could have frozen an iceberg by way of reply before the others of Class 2-B began to filter in for the day, conversation slowly growing louder and eventually filling the room with noise before their sensei came in and the room rose to bow and greet their first of the class's teachers for the day.

"So, how about that heist last night, eh?" Kaito couldn't help but wander to the meitantei's desk after he'd seen Saguru heading back to his desk and twist the knife a little on their first break as the din of chatter began, the response from Saguru an imperious stare before the magician-thief finally got a reply out of the other boy.  _C'mon, Hakuba, spill your guts. What do you know about this other guy?_ Unfortunately, Kaito knew it would be an uphill battle, and he would have to be very careful in how he approached getting the information that he could lest he make up the blond's mind even more than it already was that Kuroba Kaito was also Kaitou Kid.

"International Criminal 1412 appears to have some competition now," Saguru replied mildly before re-taking his seat. "Unlike the KID Task Force, I have my suspicions that last night's thief was not Kid at all, but someone else entirely. There are several things that don't add up when you look at everything, the complete lack of advance notice to either the gem's owner or police and the drastically different costume he wore among them." He gave Kaito a pointed stare after finishing the sentence. "I'm going to be curious to see how Kid responds. I can't imagine he'll take someone horning in on his territory like this lying down."

Kaito made a noise under his breath. "Ah. I figured he'd decided to change up his M.O. up or something, catch the task force by surprise. Weird though, huh? He's always put on a big show in the past and made a point of showing himself and giving lots of notice, why the sudden change?"

You _tell_ me _, Kuroba_ , had rolled around in Saguru's mind and on his tongue before the other boy finally decided to reply with a carefully nonchalant "Yes, very strange indeed. There are _far_  too many divergences from Kid's normal methods for last night's thief to be Kid at all, in my opinion."  _I know that wasn't you at that museum last night, Kuroba, but who_ was  _it?_ Saguru could tell that Kaito seemed to be carefully if desperately fishing for information himself, unfortunately- maybe Kaito  _didn't_  know who the black and red-clad thief was after all, as Saguru had been thinking.

"Oh, are you two talking about the new thief that robbed the museum last night?" Aoko apparently had overheard them, joining the pair at Saguru's desk and shaking her head sadly. "Man, is Dad getting driven up a wall! He doesn't think it was Kid at all, but almost the whole rest of the task force is convinced that it's just Kid changing up how he does things suddenly."

"Kuroba and I were indeed discussing that, actually. Since he's such a fanboy of Kid, I felt he might offer some... _unique_  insight on the situation." Saguru gave Kaito another pointed look before pouring more tea.

"Yeah, it's a real head scratcher." Kaito frowned and shook his head, showing his actual puzzlement and frustration for just a moment, letting his poker face slip just enough for good effect before mentally sliding it back into place. "Gotta wonder if this'll be a one off or if this other thief will try and steal more stuff, too."

Saguru sighed and shook his head. "We can just hope that Kid won't get into a competition with this new rogue. His No One Gets Hurt policy may come back to squarely bite him if the other man turns out to be dangerous."

Kaito suddenly had an idea- a  _very_  interesting idea, if it worked, and he hoped it would. Perhaps instead of searching for this other thief, he could  _make_  this black-clad rogue come to him so Kid could engage him in a round of Twenty Questions. Yeah,  _that_  was a plan, and Kaito already had the workings of an idea churning in his mind.

The bell to return to class rang and snapped Kaito out of his thoughts, signalling the end of the class's break, and everyone shuffled back to their desks to await their next sensei. Kaito pulled out his phone and quickly texted Jii, making sure that none of his classmates (especially a certain blond meitantei) could see his screen, even though he was careful with his phrasing, as he always was.

**Jii-chan. We've got some work to do tonight.**


	2. Preparations and Challenges

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> <3 Hope everyone enjoys! This wound up being a 3 parter, oh well!

"HE DID WHAT?!" The bellowed demand issuing through Nakamori Ginzo's open office door wasn't that unusual as far as the day to day in the Kaitou KID Task Force went, particularly during the mornings following one of the master illusionist's amazing heists, but the office itself was currently abuzz due to a certain want ad taken out in most all of the major newspapers.

The female Task Force subordinate that drew the short straw to deliver the bad news winced and nodded. "We've brought all the early editions so you can see them, Nakamori-keibu. There are no differences in the ad across the newspapers, and all of the newspapers report that they were hired in exactly the same way: an envelope taped to the inside of the front door with the words 'WANT AD' typed on it containing the yen to run the ad for three days, a request signed by Kid to run the ad and the text of the ad itself, both of which were typewritten. We haven't been able to lift any fingerprints or anything else useful from the envelopes, yen or the contents of the envelope, and the type of ink and paper used for all of them are both available most anywhere- they're exceedingly common."

"Of course there's no leads from any of it. He's way too careful for that." Ginzo stared at the papers, feeling a throbbing beginning at the edge of his left temple. Kid hadn't made it easy, encasing a challenge in one of his usual riddles. What made it very _un_ usual was that it wasn't addressed to either the police or a future target of one of the kaitou's amazing thefts, but to another kaitou- the black-suited one that had filched the Crow's Eye two nights ago. Ginzo had had a hunch that whoever that had been, it wasn't Kid, and his gut seemed to have been proven correct. Kid had apparently made his mind up to issue a brazen challenge to the other thief for reason or reasons unknown, and now the Task Force was going to potentially have not just Kid himself, but another robber on their hands to deal with at the same time at Kid's next heist. Accompanied by one of Kid's usual stylized, cartoony grins, the message seemed fairly to the point:

**ATTENTION FELLOW KAITOU WITH FANTASTIC FASHION SENSE:**

**What say we have some fun, if you'll accept my gracious invitation?**

**Let's meet in the middle and make things very clear.**

**Hope to see you by the second star to the right in two weeks on the second full moon this month.**

**\- Most Sincerely Yours,1412**

Ginzo frowned as he read the want ad again. "We solved this thing yet or had anyone call in that they've gotten a card?  I'm assuming if this really _is_ Kid that posted this that his usual notices will be showing up soon to his intended victim and us."

"It's been solved already, Nakamori-keibu," his officer replied, the brunette waving around a heavily scribbled notebook. "Hakuba-dono's son already called us with the solution an hour ago, almost as soon as the first editions containing the ad went out."

"Good. We'll start our preparations at whatever location it is, then- looks like Kid's set a date for two weeks out." He then frowned and glanced through the information they'd collected on the black-tuxedo'd thief that had apparently triggered International Criminal 1412 to take out a want ad essentially inviting him to what all appearances was a heist-off. "What do we know about this other kaitou, the one Kid's challenged?"

"Ah! Right." The notebook was flipped through, the female officer reading from her notes. "We're still gathering information, but he actually seems to be pretty low-key in spite of the flashy outfit. He's been around for about six months it seems, and he's been caught a few times here and there on cameras. This is actually his first time hitting our area, but we fit his pattern perfectly- he started in Nayoro up on Hokkaido for his first heist, and he's steadily been moving south since then. Apparently there's no calling card or anything and he doesn't have a declared name, but some of the precincts where he's stolen have taken to calling him the Elegant Bandit or the Masked Tuxedo due to how he dresses. His focus seems to particularly be on diamonds or white quartz, especially those either cut into unusual shapes or set into a necklace. Just like Kid, he does return them after a bit of time, and also like Kid we're not sure why at all. The jewels just show up back in one of the display cases one morning about a week later, locked up like it had never been taken."

The keibu frowned, taking this information in. "Hmm. Has anyone been hurt or injured by him?" Kid's No One Gets Hurt policy rattled around in Ginzo's head, the man worrying that this other kaitou could potentially turn violent. Kid was a strange one, but Ginzo and the rest of the Task Force had always had the sense that you could very safely approach him unarmed and the worst you would get was either being put to sleep or becoming the subject of a ridiculous prank. This new, unknown kaitou in the mix could turn it into a whole other ball game.

The officer continues to study her notes. "No, actually- he seems to always try and keep things as peaceful as possible, and there have been no serious injuries. But apparently his roses have gotten him out of a sticky situation a time or two."

Ginzo blinked, his face a mask of astonishment. "Did I hear that right? His... _roses_?"

"Yes, you did." She couldn't help a giggle that she quickly suppressed after the first. "That's, um. A direct quote from one of the reports."

* * *

Across town at Ekoda High School, a smug-feeling Kaito was feigning surprise as Hakuba Saguru announced that he'd already solved Kid's latest riddle. "Wow, so you figured it out already, huh?" Kaito put on his usual 'innocent Kaitou Kid fanboy' airs while Class 2-B got settled in for the day, Saguru rolling his eyes as always at Kaito's insistence on the act but nodding before replying amiably enough. 

"Yes- actually, this one was far less difficult than usual. I presume Kid made it less challenging deliberately because he wanted to try and ensure that this other kaitou could solve it in time to meet up." Saguru softly jabbed the paper he was reading, knowing he was talking to Kid while he was talking to Kuroba but deciding to play along, as he usually did for some reason- probably because he knew Kuroba would only ever continue his denials of being Kid. Saguru sipped his tea before continuing. "'Some fun' to him would, of course, be one of his heists, so we can presume he's trying to set up a robbery, specifically a competition of sorts between himself and this other kaitou as Kid's so plainly called him out. 'Let's meet in the middle' is fairly straightforward as well- Kid's signifying some point between his last heist and the heist the other robber committed, so that narrows it down to an eight-block radius between the Beika Museum and Yamaguchi Jewelers, where Kid last struck two weeks ago. 'Very clear' is a reference to where exactly he'll be showing up. 'Second star to the right' can only be a reference to the phrase 'Second star to the right and straight on till morning,' the famous directions to Neverland from Peter Pan. Combine that with 'second full moon' and we get the answer in full." Saguru then extracted a map of the eight blocks in question and laid it over the top of the newspaper.

Kaito paid rapt attention as Saguru made his deductions, always more than eager for any insight into how the other teen's mind worked as the blond was definitely one of Kid's more clever and dangerous adversaries besides the 'Kid Killer' himself, Edogawa Conan. (Well, Kudo Shinichi if Kaito were to use his real name, but _Kaito_ of all people felt that Kudo was more than entitled to his... _little_ secret, though how exactly the other teen had physically turned into a child was still a stumper. Whatever the heck  _had_ happened, though, Kudo's mind was still as scarily razor sharp as ever, as Kaito's several close calls when tangling with the Beikan could attest.)  _Welp, so far Hakuba's nailed it, as I'd expect- I_ did _kinda ease up on the complexity for this one after all, he's right about that._ "Makes sense so far."

The meitantei took another sip of tea and refilled his cup _._   _Of course it does, Kuroba, because I'm right. This one was absolute child's play, though I know that was intentional on your end._ "Right. Continuing on, a second full moon occurring within the same calendar month is a very rare event called a blue moon- thus the turn of phrase 'once in a blue moon', but I digress. We then take that 'second star' hint and combine it with the 'blue moon' hint." Saguru grabbed a ruler and pencil out of his desk. "Second star to the right, or second building from the far right in this case, and straight on till morning." He drew a direct north line through the map, the line crossing through eight buildings. "Kid's target will be one of these eight buildings, and would you look at that." He started drawing a shape, connecting some of the buildings and creating a round shape- a 'full moon.' "Right in the middle of the circle you can create out of some of these buildings is a building that's _also_ marked following his first hint _and_ uses a blue colored moon for its logo. The Crystal Museum of Greater Tokyo, and based on his 'very clear' hint it _has_ to be his target. Another common way of saying very clear is, of course, _crystal_ clear."  Saguru smirked and leaned back, fully satisfied with the correctness of his deductions. "Crystals aren't Kid's normal sort of target, but this seems to be more of a challenge or game versus one of his usual heists. I'm sure Nakamori-keibu and his team will still be taking all of the usual precautions, though. Some crystals _can_  be worth a great deal after all, even if not quite as much as Kid's usual targets, and this  _is_ still a chance to finally catch him." 

"Welp, I think you're right. I'm gonna go to my desk now 'cause sensei should be getting here soon." Kaito's mind churned furiously as the rest of the class began to wander in and head to their desks while he went and settled into his own. _Yeah, it_ is _a chance for me to get captured, but every single heist I pull I take that gamble so nothing's different there. It's also something of a risk to drag this other guy into it, but I really_ really _wanna meet him and ask him some questions. From my research and what Jii-chan could piece together on the guy, he's almost exactly like me- dressing up in a suit and stealing gems and jewels, and in fact he's even pickier about them than I am, after diamonds or white quartz exclusively. I'm really wondering if he's_ also _after Pandora and has a better idea of what it looks like than I do._  The fact that this other kaitou had _also_ , so far, returned what he'd stolenwas the final factor that had driven Kaito to concoct this plan with Jii. Kaito could only hope for two major things at his next heist- well, three really. The first being that this guy would figure out his riddle and show up to begin with for the little Q&A session Kaito had planned, the second that this black-suited kaitou _wasn't_ part of the same men in black that had been actively pursuing him since resurrecting his father's larcenous ghost, and number three: that tantei-san and tantei-kun didn't blow the entire damn thing up.


	3. The Heist, Part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for the kudos, comments and follows and any that come in the future! Sorry it took so long! Also I kept intending this to be a 2 or 3 parter but nope, the characters insist on lengthening it every time I write!

Kaito smirked a bit with amusement as he surveyed the madness, though quickly squashed the expression before it was noticed. He continued to study the area around him while blending into the chaos as one of the many helmeted, well-outfitted security forces that were present at the scene of Kaitou Kid's future heist due to commence in about an hour, feeling very pleased that his little challenge via a want ad to the other kaitou had apparently whipped everyone up, including the news reporters, into even more of a frenzy than was usual for his flashy heists. _Now_ he just had to hope that his little roll of the dice had paid off after he and Jii had spent a long night and morning two weeks ago driving around the greater Tokyo prefecture carefully breaking in to all those newspaper offices.  _Alright_ _so-called 'Elegant Bandit', I went to a lot of trouble with Jii-chan's help and issued that challenge to you on a silver platter. Now figure it out, show up and let's have a talk, because I_ really _wanna know what you know about Pandora if I'm right about what you're after._ Cerulean eyes currently tucked behind dark brown cosmetic lenses flicked around in all directions, taking in the scene rapidly and looking for anything out of the ordinary that could provide Kaito with a hint as to whether or not the other thief had decided to make an appearance.  _If he's smart about it, he'll likely be banking on using my entrance for cover while I keep the security and KID Task Force running around._

He had, of course, also seen _both_  Hakuba Saguru  _and_  Edogawa Conan milling about in the crowd at different times with those intent, focused, bloodhound expressions of theirs, both likely to be paying _extra_ attention tonight due to the potential involvement of the Elegant Bandit, Kaito groaning internally as he _really_ hoped that tantei-san and tantei-kun would at least _mostly_ let him get his true goal for tonight accomplished. He wasn't counting on it, though, knowing the two of them, so he'd already decided to let Jii have some fun in his place and let the pair of meitantei chase the older man around while Kaito went in search of the other kaitou. Kaito knew neither of them was stupid enough to be fooled for very long, but he hoped that the ruse would buy him at least _some_ time. The choice of the crystal museum hadn't been a coincidence either, Kaito hoping that the other black-clad thief would be unable to resist the lure of the large white quartz carefully polished and cut into the shape of a lotus flower that was one of the museum's centerpieces. Just as Kaito was debating whether to risk 'wandering off on patrol' and try to determine some good points of entry, his earpiece crackled to life on the frequency that he and Jii usually used during their heists.

"I'm suited up and ready. Though...it actually looks as if someone has already jimmied this window that we'd selected open. Could our intended guest of honor perhaps already be here?"

Kaito's brow shot skyward for a moment, taking in the information and processing it before he came to a quick realization.  _Or he decided to do things another way- getting here while it's nuts_ before _I announce myself and quietly slipping in and out._ He forced his face to relax and quickly glanced around before finding one of the few mostly empty corners on the block, quietly hissing a reply to Jii as he stepped into it,  using his Kid voice just in case he was overheard. "Get to that crystal as quick as you can, I'm on the way." He then heard the walkie talkie that he was carrying that was tuned to the police bands crackle before the familiar, angry voice of Nakamori Ginzo burst through it. 

"SECURITY'S ALREADY BEEN BREACHED! Get your asses to your assigned interior positions STAT! Either Kid's shown up ahead of schedule, which I doubt, or the Elegant Bandit's decided to crash things a little early!"

 _Welp, there goes any chance of having a nice, quiet conversation with the guy,_ sighed Kaito to himself as he took off towards the museum's entrance, being immediately waved through as he bull-rushed into the place while looking like he was on a mission just like the rest of the security team- which he most definitely _was_ , though not for the reasons that the officers were thinking.  _If the police have been alerted, then that means tantei-san and tantei-kun both know something's up, too._  Kaito frowned in a mix of concentration and mild annoyance for a moment before Poker Face snapped back into place, pulling up the building's blueprints in his mind's eye. _Okay, based on what I studied of the building and his most likely targets, I'd say he'll probably be heading right for that white quartz, though probably not directly._ He hung a left towards another part of the building and broke away from the herd of police and security, deciding to have Jii check the area around the crystal while he studied the various duct systems to try and track the other kaitou's movements. Once he was sure he was alone, he clicked his earpiece and readied Kid's voice again. "Can you check the ducts above the crystal? I remember a large air conditioning duct running directly above the room where the jewel is in the blueprints."  _Thank you, eidetic memory._

Jii's reply was quiet and almost immediate. "I'm here, actually, looking down at the crystal. There's definitely disturbed dust here that indicates someone's been here before me, but it seems he's already been and gone, I'm afraid."

"Well, keep looking around alright? I'm going to keep checking the duct entrances on the south side." A soccer ball then went whizzing past inches in front of his face, Kaito glaring at the air where it had zoomed by him before he turned and ran in the opposite direction that the soccer ball had come from. _Oh come ON! I do NOT have time for this tonight!_ "Very sorry to disappoint you tantei-kun, but no time to play tonight I'm afraid," Kaito-channeling-Kaitou Kid called behind him as he disappeared around the corner in search of the Elegant Bandit.

* * *

_HAH! I knew it was strange that that officer ducked out on his own when we were all heading towards the main display room,_ thought Shinichi with a satisfied smirk as he watched the disguised Kaitou Kid turn tail and run the other direction down the hallway.  _Looks like the ball was a little under-inflated, though, I'll have to have Agasa-hakase check out the belt next time I see him. I'm not gonna be able to stay gone for too long, either, or Ran will start to worry._  Knowing the bathroom excuse would only buy him so long, Shinichi huffed in annoyance as he started running in the direction that Kaitou Kid had taken off in, wondering just what Kid's goal for tonight was. _He pretty much straight up challenged this other thief to a heist, which tells me that Kid wanted to actually meet whoever this 'Elegant Bandit' is face to face. But why, exactly? What's the game here, Kid?  What made you want to meet him badly enough to go to all this trouble?_ Shinichi assumed that it had to be something to do with a jewel or gem, considering that the other, black-clad rogue seemed to also have an affinity for that particular variety of shiny object. _And while I'm at it, why this particular museum?_ _Kid must have a reason for wanting to meet here._ Shinichi's eyes narrowed in thought as he continued to jog in Edogawa Conan's annoying, tiny body. Kid heists tended to be one of the times he wished the most he was back to being Kudo Shinichi, the shrunken meitantei dearly longing for his older body's much longer legs and far better athletic endurance.

 _He was hoping when he planned this that there was a particular crystal here that would lure the Bandit out, wasn't he?_ Shinichi shook his head as soon as the thought finished forming, intently studying the hallways and looking for possible ingresses or egresses that either of the thieves could potentially use, since it seemed like he'd lost Kid after the last turn at that large red poster talking about upcoming exhibits. _No, scratch that. He_ knew _there was one before he set this all up, or why bother? Not to mention that it looks like the Bandit took him up on the challenge, so Kid was right. Or could it be that the Bandit is simply curious about why he got called out and_ that's _why he decided to show up?_ Something black and red skirted on the edge of Shinichi's vision to his right as he passed what was labelled as a 'Staff Meeting Room,' followed by a blur of grey-white motion and the soft sound of the door closing while the shrunken meitantei turned his head. Shinichi wanted to investigate further but realized he'd already been gone for almost seven minutes.  _Gah, I_ have _to get back outside to Ran soon, but what the heck was that?_ He realized that the second, grey-tinted blur was a hawk, which was now busy scratching and screeching at the closed door and looking irritated.  _Is that the hawk that belongs to Hakuba-kun? That's weird._ Quick footfalls came down the end of the hallway, Hakuba Saguru coming into view at a brisk jog. 

"Ah! Hello there Edogawa-kun. I saw you wandering around with Mouri-san earlier. Quite the mess tonight, hmm?" Saguru offered the boy a polite nod of his head. "I believe she's looking for you, by the way," the blond added with a raised eyebrow before he turned his attention to his currently rather annoyed animal companion. "Slipped through that door, did he Watson? Let's get after him."  The other meitantei and hawk swiftly headed into the room and closed the door before Conan's cellphone vibrated with what Shinichi already knew would be a worried text from Ran.

Shinichi quickly replied that he was coming back, deciding to see what he could get done and observe from the outside even though he'd really,  _really_ wanted to follow Saguru through that door, reluctantly heading back out of the building and towards where Ran was waiting for him by a designated lamppost that they'd agreed on before parting. "I'm really sorry that I was gone so long, Ran-neechan! It took a _long_ time to find a bathroom 'cause there's so many people running around!" Shinichi's mind was already churning, trying to formulate some kind of excuse to have Ran follow him back into the building so he could get back in there and figure out what was going on.  _Well, I wouldn't be lying if I said I left my soccer ball inside, right?_

"Ah, there you are." Ran's happy, relieved smile as Conan walked up to her was followed by a frown as she looked up in the direction of the museum once he finished joining her. "Yeah, it's really gotten crazy already, hasn't it? It sounds like this Bandit that Kid challenged may have snuck in early, so they're trying to find him."

"My darling Kid-sama will _never_ lose to that second-rate impersonator!" Shinichi groaned inwardly as the familiar voice of Suzuki Sonoko confidently drifted in their direction over the general, dull roar of the massive crowd and pro-Kid chanting. "No way!" Sonoko finished as she joined them with her arms crossed before she turned her face upwards and away, taking on a superior air. "I'm sure that Kid-sama has an amazing plan, just like he always does."

 _Let's hope you're right,_ thought Shinichi dryly as he glanced upwards at the building before deciding to put his little plan into motion. "Oh, no! Ran-neechan and Sonoko-neechan! I left my ball inside the building! Can we _please_ go inside and get it?"  _I know  Sonoko will be all for it since it's a chance to get closer to where Kid is, but it's Ran that I'm worried about._


End file.
